By Craig Potter
Aqunias graduate Chris Bostick scores 3 runs for the Chiefs in his first appearance at Frontier Field.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Red Wings split a doubleheader with the Syracuse Chiefs on Thursday night before 5,366 fans at Frontier Field.
Adam Brett Walker won the first game with a walk-off grand slam to beat the Chiefs, 5-1, in 8 innings. It was the fourth Rochester walk-off grand slam in Frontier Field history, and the first one since Aug. 16, 2005.
“To hit a walk-off is always pretty fun,” Walker said of his first-ever walk-off grand slam. “That will be one to remember.
“Luckily the ball went over the fence,” he added with a smile of his 414-foot blast. “I had a feeling, I thought I got it. I hit the (at bat) before pretty good. This field will definitely make you question if you get it or not sometimes. I knew I hit it pretty hard, and I knew he wasn’t going to catch it.”
Rochester still is looking for its first double header sweep of the season.
“We split more of these than we really want to,” said Red Wings manager Mike Quade. “I hate 7-inning games…Pitching, defense, scratch for a run, it’s still about our offense…I think we played really well defensively.
“That opportunity (in Game 2), second and third with nobody out in the fourth, that normally spells disaster (with 2, 3, and 4 coming up).”
However, Syracuse hurler Paolo Espino, who was his Triple-A debut for the Chiefs, struck out Kennys Vargas, Eddie Rosario, and Walker to escape unscathed.
Local product Chris Bostick, a 2011 Aquinas graduate from Chili who was brought up to the Chiefs from Double-A Harrisburg on Monday, accounted for Syracuse’s only run in Game 1. In his first Triple-A appearance at Frontier Field, Bostick lined a single in the second inning. He eventually scored on a fielder’s choice.
Bostick also made an outstanding defensive play in the bottom of the eighth when the Red Wings had the bases loaded with one out. With the Chiefs infield in, Eddie Rosario hit a soft liner that Bostick, who was playing at second, dove to his right to make the catch.
Walker then followed with his game-winning blast over the center field fence.
Rochester tied the game 1-1 in the fifth inning when Logan Schafer tripled to right and scored on Wilfredo Tovar’s sacrifice fly to right.
Bostick scores first run again
In the nightcap, Bostick scored twice as he batted cleanup for the Chiefs, who posted a 6-1 victory. Bostick led off the second inning with a double down the left field line, and again scored the first run of the game on a double by Matt Den Dekker.
“Happy to be back, that’s for sure,” Bostick told the media before the twinbill. “I never got a chance to play here, even in high school.”
He also switched from playing second base to playing left field in Game 2.
In the sixth inning, the Chiefs paraded 8 batters to the plate and tallied 3 runs to secure the victory. Bostick drew a walk in the rally and eventually scored on a double by Caleb Ramsey.
Bostick, 23, is one step closer to achieving his life-long goal – playing in the major leagues.
“It’s one thing to get there, it’s another thing to stay,” he said before before the doubleheader.
Bostick already has surpassed the odds of making it to the big leagues. He was drafted in the 44th round of the 2011 draft, a round now that does not exist. The draft ends with the 40th round.
Since leaving Aquinas and joining the Oakland A’s organization late in the summer of 2011. He had plans of going to college, and was playing with the Webster Yankees in the collegiate summer league, before he decided to give it a shot and go pro.
Bostick has climbed the ladder from rookie ball to short-season Class-A, to full-season A, to advanced A, then Double-A , and now Triple-A.
In between there were two trades, from the A’s to the Texas Rangers in December 2013, and from the Rangers to the Washington Nationals in December 2014.
“It’s definitely been an up and down road,” said Bostick, who as a high school sophomore helped the Little Irish win a state championship in 2009. “It’s been tough at times, it’s been fun at times. But I love it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Every day I go out and try to make the most of it.”
The call-up from Harrisburg, where he was hitting .290 with 11 doubles, 8 triples, 6 home runs, 33 RBI and 34 runs scored, came on Sunday.
“I was definitely surprised; definitely excited,” he said. “I was playing pretty well down there but I didn’t know if I was going to go anywhere.”
Bostick went 2-for-12 in his first 3-game, Triple-A series in Syracuse, including a 2-run homer on Tuesday night. He drove to Rochester after Wednesday’s game so he could spend some time at home with his mother, Nancy, and father, Ken.
On Thursday afternoon he made motored down to Frontier Field.
“It’s kind of funny to sleep in your own bed and drive your own car to a stadium you came to however many times, to play,” said Bostick. He now is just one step away from achieving his dream.
“It has been a journey,” he said. “It feels close, it definitely feels close, and hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to be able to say that I made it.”
*NOTES – The series concludes on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. with fireworks to follow the game…The split dropped Rochester (47-35) 2.5 games behind IL North Division leader Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (49-32), and a half game ahead of Lehigh Valley and Buffalo, both with 46-35 records…Minnesota Twins INF/OF Miguel Sano played third base in the opener, going 0-for-3 at the plate with a walk and 2 strikeouts. In the second game, Sano played right field and went 1-for-3. A decision of whether Sano will be recalled or continue his rehab a little longer, was expected to be made on Friday.
Links
Rochester Red Wings – redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Chris Bostick single – https://youtu.be/dgcddfjJ4i0
Chris Bostick interv iew – https://youtu.be/lRJ79LpTL2s
Adam Brett Walker interview – https://youtu.be/qr_EHjJ-7i4
Manager Mike Quade interview – https://youtu.be/Qu6uQ9UNZ28